A Letter to Continental

Dear Continental,
I am a wife of a U.S. Soldier stationed in Germany. This morning an article came out in the Stars and Stripes about the merger between United and Continental. It indicated that United will be dropping their flat rate pet fee and adopting Continental's current pet policy of shipping pets as cargo. This does not worry me as we utilized Continental to transport our cat her when we moved to Germany. I was very happy with it. What I am concerned with is the article made it sound as though prices were increasing. It was unclear whether the increase was just from United's previous flat rate to match your current rates or if prices overall were increasing.
Here is a link to the article if you could please review it and let me know how accurate the information is. http://www.stripes.com/news/shipping-pets-during-pcs-could-cost-nearly-4-000-under-new-rule-1.168509 I realize the article is focusing on the pacific region so that may  not compare with prices to Germany. When we moved our cat from Austin, TX to Frankfurt, Germany a couple years ago it cost us $575. How does this compare with your current prices?
There has been quite a fuss on our Army base of Baumholder since this was released. It would really help to get some accurate information to pass on to fellow spouses who have just recently found out they will be moving and have pets to transport. I am hoping this is just a change to United's policy and not the policies Continental had in place, such as the climate controlled transport.
Thanks you for your help and answers,

Holly Borstad

 http://hborstad.blogspot.com/

I wrote and sent the above e-mail back on Feb 14th and have been waiting for a response before posting it. The only response I ever received was this: 

Good morning, Thanks for this information. We have forward to our Managers.  Have a nice day.   Virginia Toranzo Lead Agent, Cargo Service Center Continental | 900 Grand Plaza Drive | Houston, TX 77067 Tel 800-421-2456 | Fax 713-324-3074 | www.cocargo.com

I received the above response February 14th, and have never heard from a manager or anyone else. However there was an article today (click here to read it) that the company got so much backlash from military families they are revising the policy to allow an exception for military families with PCS orders. I guess when we all work together and raise our voices, we can make a difference!